Chris Jackson: Passion for People

Passionate. Smart. Honest. Nice. These may not be your typically hard-charging business terms but for Chris Jackson, President at Stream Realty, they are bywords for long-term growth and success. As Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times explains, the commercial real estate powerhouse has long prioritized a human-centric approach – with amazing results! Chris sand his team at Stream foster not only a healthy workplace culture but resilience and retention of top talent. From the most senior leadership to the most recent hire – the shared mission is all about emphasizing integrity, authenticity, family and loyalty to the brand. It’s clearly a recipe that’s working! Over the past 20 years, Chris and his team have built this privately held company into a $5.8 million revenue juggernaut with 294 million square feet of real estate under management around the nation. You’ll learn about Chris’s 25-year marriage, a partnership that exemplifies the power of unconditional support, as well as the priority he places on showcasing team members, clients and partners alike. And with his “eternal optimism,” Chris finds a silver lining in even the bumpiest of economic times. “Downturns are what hold the greatest opportunities,” he says. “If you treat downturns as an opportunity for growth and connection, you’ll build relationships that outlast any market cycle.” With its forward-looking workplace vision, Stream Realty challenges all of us to consider the power of making gratitude, empowerment and humility a core component of any business plan.You can learn much more about Chris and what Stream Realty has to offer at this link.If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience, please visit this link. And click hereto listen to previous episodes of Gratitude Through Hard Times.  KEY TOPICS:When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: About the art work on display in Stream’s HQ office – created by a broker and an embodiment of the human-centric, empowering ethos Chris promotes.The Signature Question: If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life that you don’t give enough credit or thanks to – that you’ve never thought to thank – who would that be? Chris pays tribute to Heather, his wife of 25 years and the unconditional partnership they share.Understanding the Narrative! About the “Six Emotional Arcs” that define a gratifying story – and in particular the perennial “back and better than before” storyline.About how Chris learned to turn downtimes (such as pandemic) into an opportunity to cultivate trust, resilience and ultimately growth (by standing by the team and doing the next right thing).Why Stream Realty has come out of Covid19 and other challenging circumstances stronger than ever. The secret sauce? Integrity and a commitment to the entire team.Hard Lessons Never Go to Waste: Chris shares the story of how he turned an impulsive (and, it was quickly clear, also misguided) career move into a career-defining pivot that became his 20-year journey with Stream.Word to the Wise: Eagerness, change and passion are great. But check the impulsivity!Thoughts and feelings that fuel ingratitude:Anxiety.Fear.Guilt.Anger.Shame.Regret.Conflict.Thoughts and feelings that fuel gratitude:Empathy.Courage.Compassion.Curiosity.Action.Innovation.How “eternal optimism” shapes Chris’s leadership style and infuses it with:Empathy.Gratitude.Awareness of the contributions of others.Ability to celebrate and share the spotlight with others.About the core values (compassion, empathy and empowerment) central to the growth culture that supports a diverse group of 1,400 Stream employees nationally.Striking the Balance: Chris uses sports as a metaphor for knowing when to celebrate, when to regroup and how to keep the focus on an overall winning record year over year.Giving Up Control to Get Control: Myriad outside forces shape the real estate market, but Chris advocates taking charge of those things you can, like:Your attitude.How you treat one another.Your effort.Top Tips for People Launching their Careers:Find a company whose values align with your own.Prioritize environments that will support growth and advancement.Look for leaders who will champion and promote you.How Gratitude Shows Up with Stream’s Clients  and Partners: Constant awareness that without their trust and confidence, there is no Stream.Long-term relationships based on reciprocal integrity and loyalty.About what Stream has to offer that publicly traded corporations (beholden to stockholders first) cannot in terms of prioritizing the team.Credit Where It’s Due: Taking note of Chris’s eagerness and the ease with which he gives praise to and calls out by name co-workers as well as customers and partners.What Chris is Grateful For:Incredible relationships – family, friends and colleagues.An opportunity to champion a company and industry he loves.The journey ahead and blessings he has known along the road so far.In Closing: What Stream Realty and its vision offer us as we reassess today’s market, career opportunities and the pursuit of empathic, empowering workplace cultures! QUOTABLE“It’s a crazy world out there … but we can hopefully inspire an attitude of curiosity, flow, innovation, so many amazing things!” (Chris S.)“Downturns are what hold the greatest opportunities. If you treat downturns as an opportunity for growth and connection, you’ll build relationships that outlast any market cycle.” (Chris S.)“We’re fortunate to be a privately owned company so we can do what we want, when we want and do right by our people. And the consequence of that was that our people … saw us do the right thing (curing pandemic) in terms of taking care of people and their families.” (Chris J.)“We’ve always come out of (setbacks) stronger because our people trust us more; they feel safe and the foundation we’re all standing on is that much better.” (Chris J.)“If you wake up and dwell on the negative, you are plagued. You are falling victim of ingratitude. If you’re waking up and appreciating the good, you are maintaining an attitude of gratitude.” (Chris S.)“Being a great leader is all about empathy and gratitude. Without those two characteristics, you’re not able to recognize the qualities, skills and contributions of the other members of your team.” (Chris J.)“That’s the thing with real estate. You can only control what you can control. There are outside forces that you have no control over. (But) you can control your attitude, how you treat one another, your effort.” (Chris J.)“Without our customers and partners, we would cease to exist. We would have no reason to be here … They’ve trusted us with big and important decisions.” (Chris J.)“This is the leader of a very large company telling you how they built a culture of recognition and appreciation – of gratitude – and how that’s really fueled a lot of their success.” (Chris S.) LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:Click here to learn more about the artwork by Adam Jones, a senior VP at Stream Realty.More about author Kurt Vonnegut’s "Six Emotional Arcs of Storytelling." ABOUT OUR GUEST:With 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, Chris serves as President of Stream Realty Partners, overseeing the company’s business units and driving the growth and expansion of Stream’s businesses nationally. Stream is one of the fastest-growing commercial real estate firms in the country with offices nationwide, over 250,000,000 square feet of commercial buildings under leasing and/or management, and $3.3 billion in transaction volume annually. FOLLOW Chris:WEBSITE | LINKEDIN ABOUT OUR HOST:Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits Through Our Darkest Hours,"he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times. FOLLOW CHRIS:WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN | BOOKS